Lead Quantity Surveyor
Job Description
Lead Quantity Surveyor
Job Category: Engineer
Duty Station: Addis Ababa
Contract Type: ICA – LICA – Specialist – Retainer Posting
Start Date: 26 August 2026
Posting End Date: 8 September 2026
Duration: One year initially, renewable based on satisfactory performance and budget availability
Job Highlight
This role offers an excellent opportunity for a seasoned Lead Quantity Surveyor to contribute to sustainable development initiatives across the Horn of Africa. You will apply expert knowledge in cost management and quantity surveying to high‑impact infrastructure projects, work within a dynamic international environment, and advance your career with a leading UN organization dedicated to improving lives.
Role Purpose
The Lead Quantity Surveyor oversees comprehensive quantity‑surveying and cost‑management processes for civil engineering projects. The role provides authoritative technical advice, adapts established methodologies, and ensures accurate cost estimation, procurement support, and financial control. This position is critical to delivering infrastructure initiatives efficiently, with integrity, timeliness, and cost‑effectiveness.
Functions / Key Results Expected
- Site Assessment and Data Review
- Undertake complex or multi‑site technical assessments and establish appropriate methodologies.
- Provide senior technical advice on interpreting drawings, surveys, specifications, geotechnical data, and other technical inputs to inform design and cost decisions.
- Establish robust approaches for quantity assessment, measurement, and cost estimation for complex infrastructure projects.
- Identify and proactively address technical, constructability, and cost risks, recommending mitigation measures and alternative solutions.
- Engineering Estimates, Cost Planning & Analysis
- Lead and validate complex, high‑value engineering estimates and provide authoritative cost advice.
- Advise project management and senior stakeholders on quantities, cost estimates, technical specifications, pricing assumptions, and Bills of Quantities.
- Develop cost breakdowns using current market prices, labour rates, and material costs.
- Review and challenge estimates prepared by project teams or consultants, ensuring technical integrity, consistency, competitiveness, and value for money.
- Bills of Quantities (BoQ) Preparation
- Establish and promote standardized measurement methodologies, item descriptions, units, and quantity take‑off approaches.
- Ensure consistency and technical integrity between drawings, specifications, design changes, BoQs, and cost estimates.
- Provide technical leadership in resolving discrepancies between design documentation, specifications, quantities, and cost estimates.
- Procurement Support
- Provide authoritative technical advice on tender documents, including BoQs and specifications throughout procurement and bid evaluation.
- Advise on responses to bidder queries during procurement.
- Guide project and procurement stakeholders on cost competitiveness, technical compliance, risks, and value‑for‑money considerations.
- Site Measurement & As‑Built Quantification
- Advise on cost‑variation analysis, contractor claims, and new‑rate reviews during implementation.
- Review and validate proposed new rates and cost adjustments, ensuring alignment with contractual provisions and market conditions.
- Provide senior technical recommendations on disputed quantities, variations, claims, and cost adjustments.
- Documentation & Reporting
- Establish and oversee quality‑control mechanisms for engineering estimates, BoQs, quantity measurements, cost data, and related documentation.
- Develop and maintain technical standards, procedures, guidance, templates, and tools for quantity surveying.
Skills
- AutoCAD
- Bill of Quantities
- Cost Engineering
- Quantity Surveying
- Report Writing
Education Requirements
Required:
- Master’s degree (or equivalent) in Civil Engineering, Construction Technology and Management, or a related field, with at least 5 years of relevant experience.
- A Bachelor’s degree in the same fields, combined with a minimum of 7 years of relevant experience, may be accepted in lieu of a Master’s degree.
Desired:
- Additional professional qualifications or certifications in quantity surveying, cost estimation, or construction management.
Experience Requirements
Required:
- Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in civil engineering, quantity surveying, cost estimation, and/or construction project support.
- Minimum 5 years of experience preparing engineering cost estimates, BoQs, quantity take‑offs, and cost analyses.
- Minimum 5 years of experience in site measurement, as‑built quantity assessment, and verification of executed works.
- A valid practicing professional Construction Management licence.
Desired:
- Experience in construction projects, including knowledge of materials, methods, local market prices, labour rates, and supplier/service costs.
Language Requirements
- English: Fluent
- Amharic: Fluent
Offer
This position provides an opportunity to apply advanced expertise in quantity surveying and cost engineering to high‑impact infrastructure projects across the Horn of Africa. You will work in a dynamic international environment and contribute to sustainable development while advancing your professional career within a leading UN organization.
